If someone had told me when I was growing up that I would one day earn my living by speaking, I would have said,”No way!” As a child, I was constantly teased about my voice–too squeaky, too mousy, too soft spoken! Read more Finding Your Speaking Voice

As the bus made its way to this “where-in-the-world-are-we-going” corner spot of Washington State called Sumas, the organizers of the Multi-Ethnic Leadership Institute 2015 sponsored by the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities assured us that Cedar Springs Christian Retreat Center was worth the effort. “The food is great!” “The grounds are beautiful”. Under my … Read more Inhabiting the Thin Places

As My Garden Grows- June 2

There is too much work that needs to be done in the garden, but it will have to wait for another day. First of all, it is raining. Second, one of my other passions, writing, is demanding its fair share of time. I must give in–deadlines are looming.However, as I did a quick walk around the garden this morning, I saw so much that inspired me.
The sugar snap peas have outgrown the first rungs of string on the trellis, and they are pleading with me to add a few more rungs.

And can you believe how these sunflowers have grown! They are almost as tall as I am!

These pole beans amazed me (Actually, they creeped me out a bit). I saw that they were badly in need of a trellis. So on Sunday morning I put down some stakes to begin the process. By the evening (I kid you not), they had wrapped their vines around the stakes. I know!! Like REALLY!

I took a risk and started planting earlier this year. Did lose a few plants due to a late April frost, lots of rain, slugs and caterpillars. But I simply replanted and kept on going. Now, I think it is paying off “Big time!”. I had almost given up on this tomato plant, after it took a bruising form a late cold spell. “But lookee, lookee here! It is thriving, and I see tomato flowers already.

In fact, I have too many tomato plants that sprung up in my garden from last year. I gave several away, and I have planted as many as I can in whatever spot I can find. I even put one in a pot outside my garden fence. Hopefully, Mr Groundhog will get his fill here and leave what is inside the fence ALONE!!. But alas, I had to pull some out to make way for my other veggies. After all, a girl cannot live by tomatoes alone.

Apart from tomatoes growing like weed in my garden, I found another surprise. I tried to pull a weed (Well, I thought it was a weed) from the tomato bed, but it would not budge. Finally, I pulled and pulled, and pulled up a potato! Yes, a potato!! Seems like when I emptied the pot of soil from my potatoes last year, some spuds decided to stick around and give it another go. Hey, I’m not complaining. So I dug the rest up and placed them in their new home in this pot.

Finally if you need a bit of inspiration for your day. Take a look at these beans, they have been eaten and eaten by slugs and caterpillars. However, I covered the remaining leaves up and replanted a few more seeds. Now here they are still fighting the good fight for survival. You’ve just got to be inspired by that!!